Separating a heterogeneous cell population based on cellular properties is a valuable analytic tool. Cell sorting devices separate cells from a suspension based on physical parameters of the cells of interest. When the cell population of interest does not differ significantly in size or density, current separation techniques are ineffectual.
The separation of target cells from the untargeted cells, and the maintenance of the membranes of target cells and untargeted cells, are particularly important in the early detection of HIV/AIDS and cancer, for example. One proposed way of detecting diseases such as HIV/AIDS, which specifically attacks CD4+ lymphocytes, involves inefficient equipment that can only be used in specialized clinics and tertiary medical centers. When one is infected with HIV but has not started treatment, the number of CD4+ cells decreases, A CD4+ lymphocyte count below 200 indicates serious immune damage and infection with HIV/AIDS. Normal counts are usually between 500 and 1600. CD4+ cell tests are usually reported as the number of cells in a cubic millimeter of blood, or mm3.
There remains an unmet need for rapid and reliable magnetic separation CD4+ lymphocytes with high yield from a sample having a small concentration of such cells. Current separation techniques do not provide sufficient separated quantities of CD4+ lymphocytes to obtain a significant and reliable clinical, genetic, chemical or other analysis of the cells to indicate presence of diseases. Therefore, a need exists to magnetically label and separate target cells, such as CD4+ lymphocytes, to produce a concentration of the target cells for early detection of diseases.